NY Daily News, Thursday, June 6, 2002Probe rips city animal sheltersBy LISA L. COLANGELODAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAUThe city's animal shelter system is plagued by mismanagement -- and its four-legged wards often pay the price, according to an audit to be released today by Controller WIlliam Thompson.The probe found the Center for Animal Care and Control, which holds the city's contract to handle strays, has failed to provide proper shelter for all its animals, isn't aggressive in its adoption efforts and has turned away potential volunteers.The audit points to several instances where stray animals, picked up by the agency, were euthanized before their owners could find them in the shelter system."I can't comment on an audit report that hasn't been released," said MariIyn Haggerty-Bloom, the center's executive director.The center long has been a target of some animal activists, who say it's too quick to euthanize strays."They fail to attack the root of the animal overpopulation problem," said Gary Kaskel of the Shelter Reform Action Committee. "They merely have a 'thin the herd' mentality."But center officials say they have limited resources and, unlike private shelters, they are required to take in all strays.The center, which has a five-year contract with the city, receives about $8 million a year to handle animal control. It has shelters in Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn.This is not the first time the center has been scrutinized by the controller's office.A 1998 audit found thousands of dollars collected by dog owners went into the city's general fund, rather than to help care for strays.